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Children suffer when teachers and their employers fight

To claim that teacher strikes do not hurt kids’ education is simply absurd.

The two titans are at it, as job action by BC Teachers’ Federation continues.

This reminds me of an old proverb: When the elephants fight, it’s the grass that gets trampled.

Kids are the ones who are suffering.

To claim that strikes do not hurt kids’ education is simply absurd.

True, each side in the dispute has some valid arguments, and it’s not all black and white.

However, as Rodney King once said: “ Can’t we all get along?”

Even more than money, the way I see it, the fight is about respect.

Paraphrasing another Rodney, the comedian Rodney Dangerfield, they claim they get no respect.

Teachers definitely deserve their due.

On the other hand, let’s not lose sight of the bottom line, namely accountability for results as student achievement.

Schools really need to be judged on the value they add.

Forty-two per cent of Canadian adults having low literacy skills (according to Stats Canada) is simply unacceptable.

Even the B.C. Labour Relations Board has ruled: the two sides need to acknowledge that their decisions on essential and non-essential services in education [ a.k.a. the report cards] are fundamentally flawed.

The system is broken. Let’s fix it – and fast!

 

Dr. Lal Sharma

Former professor, school trustee